- OTHER MEDIA
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- My Cultural Landscape January 25, 2010 (George Heymont)
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- Over at the Exit Stage Left on Eddy Street, RIPE Theatre is reviving
its 2003 production of an explosive play called Akin: It's In The Blood.
The company's mission statement is quite similar to that of Berkeley's
Central Works:
"RIPE Theatre is a collective of artists who produce original, ensemble-developed
work and new plays. It is our mission to create theatre that inspires a
sense of awareness and curiosity about our society. By producing new material
integrated with visual and communication arts, we aim to connect with broader,
more diverse audiences."
Written by the company's co-artistic directors, Noah Kelly and Sarah McKereghan
(and directed by McKereghan), Akin: It's In The Blood drifts back and forth
between two generations of highly dysfunctional family members. Each scene
is notable for:
•A bloody injury to a specific body part (finger, nose, lip, foot,
neck, etc.)
•Visions of other family members that fade in and out through a scrim
behind the actors.
•A statement that is easily misinterpreted because one person may
hear the word "Will" when another person has said "Well."
•Characters that are in extreme emotional turmoil
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- And just who are these tortured souls?
•John (Christopher Kuckenbaker) is a middle-aged husband whose wife,
Mary, is pregnant with twins. Unbeknownst to her, he has been carrying
on a secret affair with her identical twin sister.
•Mary (Kimberly Lester) is not just pregnant, she is hyperemotional,
subject to extreme mood swings, fixations, and would be better off if she
were unable to hold a knife.
•Adam (Jeremy Minagro) wants to be an artist, but doesn't create any
art. He wants to have money, but doesn't work. A slacker with little or
no ambition, he has become a very loving and cuddly parasite who is totally
dependent on Karen.
•Karen (Amanda Ortmayer) is Mary's niece. Unlike her stepsister, Alfie,
Karen is subject to severe mood swings and has been fired from numerous
jobs because of her tendency to "act out." Following her mother's
death, she has inherited a substantial amount of money as well as her mother's
home. She has decided to to dump her useless boyfriend, move to Amsterdam
and live with Alfie.
•Will (Rik Lopes) is Mary's gay son. A dentist by day and restaurant
owner by night, the audience first meets Will and his twin sister as they
are trying to clean out the New Mexico home of their recently deceased
mother. Like any set of twins, they are very close and yet often have trouble
communicating their thoughts to each other.
•Lisa (Mikka Bonel) is Will's fraternal twin, a woman who has always
wanted to be a writer, but ended up managing a large coffee business. She
has plenty of money and complains that she hates her job, but is not willing
to follow her very practical twin brother's advice: "Stop bitching,
quit your job, and become the writer you've always wanted to be."
•Kate (Kimberly Lester) is Mary's identical twin. After discovering
that she has become pregnant as a result of screwing her sister's husband,
she is more than a little surprised at John's inability to tell her whether
or not he is looking forward to having a child with her
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- Although Akin: It's In The Blood starts off in a highly stylized manner
(choreographed body movement, muffled voices, plenty of pregnant pauses),
once the drama starts to gain traction it develops into a very impressive
evening of theatre. As performed in a tiny space at the Exit Theatre, the
confrontations became especially intense and the emotional pain of some
characters riveting. I was particularly impressed by Mikka Bonel's impassioned
Lisa, Amanda Ortmayer's fiery Karen, and Jeremy Minagro's affable, lazy
Adam.
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- If you like intensely dysfunctional and passionately performed family
dramas, this one has some truly perverse plot twists. Watching this play
only reinforces the concept that heterosexuals who can't control themselves
may well be the biggest threat to marriage. Akin: It's In The Blood continues
at the Exit Theatre through February 6. You can order tickets here.
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